I’ve always wanted to be a ninja.

Unfortunately, I haven’t the athletic prowess nor the patience that such a trade necessitates. Thankfully, there have always been numerous games in which I can live out that fantasy: Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Tenchu, and now N+.

After being given the opportunity to take the PSP edition for a test drive, I come bearing two gifts for you, dear readers. One, a review of the enhanced port, and also a bit of helpful information: being a ninja takes patience. A metric ton of it.

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For the Final Fantasy 7 fan, there is no question about whether or not they should purchase Crisis Core. Even if the game was a hastily assembled, inferior mess, it would still be have to be added to the collection.

Luckily, it isn’t that bad. It isn’t great, but it’s not bad. Yes, it does suffer from a few problems, problems that have become endemic to Square Enix, and all their current titles. Specifically, an over reliance on extended and unskippable cut-scenes that do not always advance the plot, and a battle system that requires little more than hitting X repeatedly, and occasionally remembering to cure. You have more options than this, but enemy intelligence is lacking, and the fights themselves so easy, that you don’t need to avail yourself of any of the more advanced combat options. In addition to that, most of the more powerful options (limit breaks, summons etc) are controlled by the DMV, essentially a slot machine. The result is wasting powerful moves on weak enemies, or at the end of battles. This random element is very frustrating and removes any sense of strategy. It’s also somewhat jarring to keep having control pulled away from you without warning.

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On June 12th, Playstation 3 owners fled from their houses to the nearest GameStops, Best Buys, and Walmarts to get their hands on Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Well, okay, maybe not all of them—but if you didn’t, you should have.

Fresh from Kojima Productions, MGS4 marks the end of an era. It’s the final installment in the Metal Gear series to star Solid Snake, the suave protagonist fans know and love. As a PS3 exclusive, the game earned itself quite a bit of hype and lives up to every bit.

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There was a period of time that I was addicted to tactical games. I would stay up until 4am, bleary eyed and waiting for my turn in the battle to come. When it finally did, I would smirk to myself and think: checkmate. Then I’d send out whatever most powerful move or character I had in my arsenal. Except it wasn’t always a checkmate. The beauty of the situation was that my supposed victory move was not always a game winner. Like all games of chess, a smart opponent has something waiting in the wings to throw out in case of an emergency. The game is never over when you expect it.

It’s this ongoing struggle of stratagem that keeps me replaying these games and keeps me addicted.

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This week, there’s one game licking at the edges of every player’s conversation, flying off the shelves and dominating entertainment news as a source of infinite controversy. Grand Theft Auto IV, the newest in the family of Rockstar’s questionable line-up arrived on shelves this past Tuesday much to the glee of fervently waiting gamers. GTA is well known to many, including non-gamers, for the flak GTA III drew for ultra-violence against the police and innocents, strong language, nudity, drug & alcohol use and adult situations (that often included prostitutes or strip clubs).

Despite the game already being rated M for “Mature”, conservative groups all over the country continue to demonize the franchise for capitalizing off of filth and allegedly encouraging deviant, delinquent behavior in children. While gamers expected to hear the predictable off-kilter spin from the ever-splenic Jack Thompson (who, naturally, has been demanding that lawmakers indict Take-Two for “providing pornographic material to minors” and planting “viruses” in this country’s youth), the generally well-respected group MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) has also come down hard on GTAIV. After formally requesting Rockstar halt distribution, it became clear that their issue stems from the fact that drunk driving is allowable in game. It is pertinent, however, to note that the player can choose to decide whether or not the character will drive home, hail a cab or walk it off. That right there is what makes the game interesting to me—choice.

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While home for break I find myself becoming a lot closer with my Nintendo DS since my consoles are a hundred miles away and locked in a closet. Since it’s been out since 2004, I’ll assume most people reading this have likely played a DS once or twice. If you haven’t, the selling point of the device is the fact that it has two screens. The bottom screen is a touch pad. That’s the most basic of basic explanations, but I find the best way to learn about a gaming system is to actually try it out yourself.

The touch screen makes for some interesting game ideas. But how much is too much? When does innovation turn into, ’stop, just stop, seriously’? After sitting down and thinking about the DS games I’ve played over the last few years, I was able to piece together what I think about the DS and some of its games.

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